A Weekly Conversation with the Voice

May 2013

05/30/2013

One day a student approached her
teacher and asked: “How can I deepen my relationship with my soul?”

Her teacher responded – “Tell me
what have you been doing?”

“Well,” said the student, “my practice
of stillness seems to help. Also I regularly ask my soul the question — what do you need, how
can I nourish you.”

The teacher sat in silence and
then asked, “So what have you noticed?”

“One of the reasons I practice
my silence more is that I feel that is what my soul wants me to do.”

Yes, please continue,” said the
teacher.

“Also sometimes I feel my soul
as a warm energetic presence like a beautiful piece of linen cloth. I might be
making that up?” And on occasion I fell like I have a companion.”

The teacher nodded saying these
are wonderful things to notice. “Continue to work on having a direct experience
of your soul expressing itself. Allow it to take any form.”

“What do you mean said the student?”

“Well consider your friend Alannia – the other day she said to me that in several of her recent paintings, she felt her soul was expressing itself as she painted. She found this to be
associated with a deep sense of connection and a sense of something larger.

The teacher continued, “To build
a deeper relationship with your soul – treat it as you would a friendship. So Mariel consider
– how would you deepen a friendship? With any friendship this begins by
understanding the friend, being in-learning.

“Now the soul does not like or
dislike or have preferences in the manner your physical body or you personality
self does. The soul experiences through resonance. Think about this as having a
deep experience of music. Not just a preference – but when you allow the music
to touch you and hear it not just with your ears but with your entire body. In
building a friendship you are building an energetic space to invite your friend
into. So what kind of space are you building for your friendship with your soul?

“Stillness is excellent because
the soul resonates with this! Asking how you can be of help or act in
nourishing ways is also excellent! So in-learning, stillness, followed by
listening and then discovering ways to nourish are four things that build any
relationship.

“Now what does not build
relationship with the soul is violence of any form. This clutters the space.
Think about the music – the energetic naure of violence is as if you are playing a form of music which
disturbs the soul. So a friend enters
into your house – you try to warmly engage, but music is playing loudly in the
house that is disturbing to your new friend. How would that be?

“Violence of any form means
negative thoughts, angry thoughts, anger, -emotional, physical, energetic
violence to solve problems – rape of any form. If you still are solving
problems through anger and argument inside or outside then this makes it difficult
to engage the soul. If you still experience entertainment through watching or
reading about violence, the use of guns, explosions, physically harming others…
it is difficult to engage your soul and deepen your relationship. Does this make sense?”

Mariel is very quiet and then responds, “So how do I begin
to diminish my relationship with violence, it seems so common, so frequent
within and around me, expressing itself in small ways too?”

"Good question? What
do you think?”

“Honestly teacher I am not sure
– it feels a bit overwhelming.”

“Well ponder this with me, If
violence is the extreme act of not listening and shows no appreciation – what
might you do?“

“Well of course more listening
and to practice appreciation in all that I do! To look everywhere for
appreciation, sense the qualities and appreciate.”

05/18/2013

Tell me, is "beautiful" a natural quality or a judgment?
Consider these examples. A mother thought to herself, “What a beautiful day for
our picnic, how sunny it is.” Later in the day it began to rain – “How horrible,”
thought the mother. On the same day a farmer stood outside in the rain arms
upstretched and felt that he had never seen a more beautiful sight! One woman
looked around her land and tried to kill all the weeds she saw. In another
county, the same weed was a beautiful sight and prized for its herbal remedies.
Beautiful is always a judgment never a true quality.

The Myth of Attraction says that if you are judged beautiful
— you are better-than. And so deep within your cultures the myth operates. Remember
the Great Myths are deep, collective beliefs sustained over millennia, almost
invisible. The Great Myths are large energetic fields that influence your actions and beliefs
and the development of your communities. They show up in small and big
ways.

Can you see how this Myth of Attraction operates?

When the myth is active: 1) people have a strong
relationship with mirrors; 2) opinion of self is influenced by appearance; 3)
contests and competition exist both formal and informal, to rate and rank beauty;
4) people judged beautiful receive better treatment; 5) children form tribes
based on attractiveness, those children not judged attractive are mistreated; 6) action – what you do is determined by how
you feel about how you look; 7) much time is spent creating appearance, trying
to attract, and judging performance on attraction.

The whispers of this myth are powerful. You are told over
and over and over, “Be attractive. Look attractive. Attract someone. Attract
someone special. Compete with others to be attractive. Feel special if you attract
someone. Your worth is measured by your attractiveness.”

Let’s go deeper. The
true dilemma about the Myth of Attraction is not the issue of beauty.The
true dilemma is that it makes you judge, that you experience the world and
people through judgment. There is another way to experience the world and that
is through sensing
qualities.

The Practice:

First — Shift they way you experience of people. When you
meet a person – learn to ask, “What qualities are present in this person?” Now
this can take a bit of practice because the Myth of Attraction has taught you
to notice the physical form first and to form all your opinions (judgments) and
then actions based on impression. When you see something that you judge as
beautiful ask: “What qualities am I sensing?”

Second — Notice the presence of the Myth of Attraction
around you and in your life. This direct awareness will lead you to important
questions to ponder.

Third — Review the Nine
Jewels of Human Relationship. These describe the natural state of human
relationships they offer a different experience than the Myth of Attraction.

Remember that the natural state among people is that
Connection naturally exists among all human beings. Everything and Everyone is
connected. There is wisdom in recognizing and lessening the energy of the Myth
of Attraction in your life.

05/12/2013

The energetic definition of allow is
to open oneself to receive that which is offered, to engage with the flow. Now allowing is a
very active and dynamic state, not passive at all. When you allow you are very
awake. There is a very old saying of great wisdom “One does not ride the unicorn, one allows the unicorn to carry you.” Consider these two examples. Carey feels a great impulse to make things happen, to be in charge, to control
for outcomes or variations. She takes pride in her ability to push through any
adversity or obstacle. She does not often experience “Life as a flow.” Life is energy not physical, nor solid structure.

Allowing is an active process of working with the flow.
Samantha practices stillness, she creates an intention that is constantly being
refined and deepened. She is deeply committed. She crafts powerful invitations that
are grounded in mutual interest moving towards service. When people show up she
builds connections and creates a supportive space to be and work together. She
never gives up. Lines (beliefs and judgments) about what is possible do not
deter her. In the midst of all of this, she is allowing — allowing things to
emerge, paying attention.

There is a flow. There is not plan. What is the source of
the flow? First, there is a general movement of growth and when necessary
healing. Second, everyone has free will. Third, there is the expression of Good
Will. Now, there are other movements that create static in and around this
natural flow. These movements are grounded in the Great Myths and people
exercising free will in context of being in-wanting and in-knowing.

Many perceive there is a higher plan of some sort - for individuals or groups. Not so — a plan would interfere with free will, which
we all (physical and energetic) beings share in common. Rather than a plan, consider
there is resonance, flow, and gifts. 1) So everyone on the planet has a gift to
share. 2) If you are still and greeting the world in-learning you can make
decisions through resonance. 3) You can sense the natural flow and work with it
– engage it.

Now there is nothing wrong with making plans. In fact plans
for yourself, plans made collectively, plans which acknowledge everyone’s
mutual interest and service are encouraged. Consider this principle – “Commit to plans, do not be attached to the
specific forms.” The more excited and committed you are to your plans – the
more you must ALLOW.

So how does one allow? 1) Use the golden triangle of
awareness and make your day full of noticing, listening and sensing. 2) I make
space for “~~~ “yes “~~~”! There are no words to describe, it cannot be
predicted. I make space! Everything is not tight or closed or linear or full.
This allows the flow to present things and it allows you to sense, notice, and
listen. 3) Now you are in a position to engage – to sense what may be emergent
—or— to sense how things might want to develop. Even a garden, flowers, rocks
can have preferences with how they might like to be. Plan your garden and also sense
and then allow them to be, support them. Now is some instances this may mean the
“specific forms of your plans may not appear. Other forms will emerge. This is a very dynamic process – planning
and allowing, requiring constant engagement! One cannot fall asleep or go
on automatic pilot!

05/05/2013

Now
there are many opinions about what to teach our children. The details are left
to you concerning the subjects a child must memorize. Here we speak of “being” BE- IN- G. Surrounded by all our previous
conversations, “being” will mean to
present oneself in a manner that supports growth and healing for self and
everyone else. Our discussion outlines a curriculum of “being” – how to be with oneself, how to be in-relationship, how to
sit in circle and how to be in-community and lastly how to be a world citizen.

Now
children learn “being” all the time,
the messages come from everywhere – be attractive, be a winner, be wealthy, be
the center, be an owner, be the best, be honest if it doesn’t get others in
trouble, be popular. The Great Myths are a strong source of instruction in how “to
be.” Various wisdom traditions teach other ways of being, though they are not
always in contact with children. We are most concerned for all those children
who learn “to be” by accident, by soaking in all that is around them. As they
grow up this leads to pain, discomfort, disturbance and leaves much to set
aside and release as adults.

Holding
all the world and recognizing that many work in good will to teach children a
peaceful way of being – yet not
enough work with children – the following is offered for a curriculum of being.

1)
Teach Partnership – The children help one
another learn. No one is excluded. Competition is almost disappeared. The older
children really appreciate the opportunity to help the younger ones. Offer to
the children a way of being that invites a high quality of relationship
characterized by these qualities – walking side by side, in-learning, respect,
interest approaching service, In particular build relationships whose
foundation begins with being learning partners.

2)
Healing Touch – Imagine you head is
throbbing with the frustration of the day and your child approaches and offers
healing touch, placing her hands on your forehead and shortly within 10 minutes
the throbbing stops, your breathing shifts. Now imagine this same child as an
adult see how much she has to offer. The world needs healing touch.

3)
Managing Disturbances – Now disturbance always
manifests within self. For example anytime you feel uncomfortable emotion. Teach
pondering or looking within. This is always preferred to blaming or attacking.
Deep breathing is always preferred to breath of fear or breath of attack. For
the now, the world is a rough and tumble place – energetically emotional
bruises are common. We teach our children ways to manage disturbances in their
relationships.

4)
Circles – Teach the children to sit
in circle to manage community disturbance, to heal, to explore and to dialogue.
The child who learns dialogue in a circle becomes an adult who can listen and
lead. The possibilities of circle should
not be underestimated! Circle is the fundamental building block of
community. Circle is much like walking side by side only with many. Yet beyond
this, a circle is a way of taping into collective wisdom, which can unknot
messy tangles that constrain everyone.

5)
Share – Now one does not teach
voice or gift – the two fundamental flows of growth and development for every
person. A curriculum of being creates spaces where children can share
themselves by developing voice and discovering their gifts. The development of
Voice and the discovery of Gift is a beautiful and amazing process for each and
every child. These are "expressions of being," of the very nature of the child
herself. What does she have to speak and what gift does she bring to share? Everyone
is enriched when people fully express themselves.

05/03/2013

The messages in this book are a gift. Gifts are made for
sharing and these messages are offered freely without attachment or
expectation. Though the nature of my words may sometimes seem intense, there is
no judgment. My nature is to simply experience the whole.

This is a book of messages for growth and healing. Another
book might have been just on growth; however, there are many wounds on your
planet, and healing is a natural part of growth. The ten messages offered in
this book are energies that contribute to the growth of individuals,
relationships, circles and communities.

Each message contains no more than five
words, allowing for the space to expand around them. If you are curious, you
can travel far with these messages, They will be good companions. — The Voice

Book Description: Wait for No One introduces a new wisdom practice to help us develop our voices, discover our gifts, experience the world energetically and rediscover the possibilities of what it means to be fully human. These are the building blocks to healthy vibrant relationships and flourishing communities. Both beginner and advanced practitioners of personal growth will find ideas and practices from which they can derive benefit. The Messages in this book show us how to -- Find our true voice and special gift ~ Create powerful intentions and compelling invitations. ~ Erase the "lines" that separate us from others. ~ Create living nourishing spaces. ~ Walk across time. ~ Greet the world "in-learning" even in the most challenging circumstances. ~ Speak the truth. ~ Heal emotional wounds. ~ See the world energetically through listening, sensing, and noticing.

About the AuthorMichael Marlowe is a spiritual coach, channel, energy healer, writer, and executive consultant. A pioneer in the field of Energetic Intelligence™, he teaches people to work more directly with patterns of energy to create relationships and communities, which flourish. His consulting work is with non-profits and international NGOs. He is author of Children and Leaders and the series Small Books with Big Ideas. Michael Marlowe is a cofounder of the Academy for Systemic Change and is a regular faculty member and advisor to the Omega Institute.